Posts Tagged ‘ICBC’
Are insurance rates soaring across BC?
Scenes like this are all too common in BC and take a tragic toll in lives lost and families destroyed. The cost is high and we all pay but are Insurance Rates out of control in B.C.? Check out this article, as you may be surprised to see where British Columbia sits in relation to other Provinces.
This article is brought forward following an article in the Saanich News stating ICBC rates for some classes of vehicles are grossly inflated as compared to Alberta. Also included are recent updates.
Updated: February 10, 2020
Further to the update below (February 1, 2020), I note that since the government announced a “No-Fault” insurance plan for BC, Robert Mulligan is taking a slightly different tack, suggesting that no-fault will only increase the problems by taking away the right of an injured party to sue.
I’ve copied just one sentence from Mulligan’s longer discussion, “And I think people don’t like the idea that somebody who’s, for example, was drunk and ran into you and you become a quadriplegic is going to be treated exactly the same way you would in terms of getting benefits (go to minute 00:15:26 to see his full comment)
Statements like this appear to be simple fear-mongering. As was the case in the past, people who commit criminal offences, as well as other forms of negligence while driving, may well lose their insurance coverage and in all likelihood would be sued by ICBC to recover costs of the claim. (Link here to Mulligan’s full conversation on CFAX radio)
Updated: February 7, 2020
It is reported ICBC is heading for a 20% rate reduction and largely cutting out lawyers in a change to No-Fault insurance. This will be the largest change to ICBC in several years and will hopefully place the Crown Corporation back on an even keel.
It will be interesting to see how trial-lawyers who earn a large part of their income from ICBC, and the Conservative (aka Liberals) opposition in the Legislature, respond to these changes.
That being said, a February 1, 2020 article by Robert Mulligan, an experienced trial-lawyer, suggested implementing several of the changes currently being proposed by the government.
This will be explored more fully over the next few days.
Read more at CBC Major Overhall of ICBC
Also, a Times Colonist report: Major overhaul at ICBC would limit the ability to sue, cut rates by 20%
Update: February 1, 2020
For an interesting update of the challenges facing ICBC, read a CFAX interview with Robert A. Mulligan titled, “Extinguishing the ICBC Dumpster Fire“. You should disregard the title of the article as it was prepared by a media outlet and does not reflect the considered opinion of a respected, practicing lawyer here in Victoria.
Update: August 20, 2019.
A further article debunks the statement that ICBC rates are soaring and that they are among the highest in Canada: BC News Outlets Exaggerated the Costs of ICBC Insurance
Update: August 13, 2019.
A Global News broadcast this afternoon quoted heavily from an article prepared by the Insurance Bureau of Canada, an Ontario based private enterprise organization that promotes private insurance, which states BC has the highest auto insurance rates in Canada and that rates could be lowered through ‘competition’. There was also an article in the Saanich News which similarily quoted the IBC information and also indicated ICBC is facing a huge deficit. The article made no mention of the considerable sums of money the government has removed from Crown Corporations such as ICBC and BC Hydro.
I have reached out to friends in the Auto Insurance industry to have them fact check the calculations I quote in order to ensure they have legitimacy. (Updated August 14, 2019 – hit the continue reading below for the original article and other updates)
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